Swansea City FC’s first season in the Premier League was worth £58m to the local economy, an in-depth study has shown.

And an estimated 400 jobs, 340 of them in Swansea, were either created or safeguarded by the Swans’ promotion..

The news comes as a hundreds of millions of fans around the world prepare to watch the high-flying Swans take on Arsenal in the FA Cup at the club’s Liberty Stadium this Sunday.

Welsh Government Minister and Gower AM Edwina Hart said: “Swansea City FC’s promotion and success in the Premier league has also exposed Wales to a world-wide TV audience and provided the Welsh Government with rich opportunities to promote out economic development and tourism messages, not just for the Swansea region but for Wales.”

The economic impact study by the Welsh Economy Research Unit of Cardiff University found £50m of the £58m “premier effect” was generated by Swansea City itself through its TV and other income and its spending on supplies and spending by its staff of more than 120 (including players).

A further £7.9m was generated by visiting fans using hotels, pubs, restaurants and transport.

Speaking at the Liberty Stadium today, Swansea City Chairman Huw Jenkins said the club now planned to expand.

He said: “We hope to have planning permission settled for expansion by March.”

Mr Jenkins said eventually the club hoped to expand its seating capacity by 12,000 seats though the expansion was likely to be made in stages.

David Phillips, the leader of Swansea Council said: “One of the biggest events in the success of Swansea City has been the building of the Liberty Stadium, which was capital debt free due to the selling off of associated land.

“The Liberty has been like an expensive extra player...without it we would not have done so well.

“If ever there was justification for investing millions in a sporting stadium for a community it was the Liberty Stadium.”

The “premier effectEmma has also been attracting foreign students to Swansea University.

Emma Frearson Emmanuel, head of the International Office at Swansea University, said: “What we have noticed since the Swans came into the Premiership is an increase in interest in Swansea from students in certain countries of the world, particularly Africa.“

Adithya Rangaswamy, 18, a law student from Botswana, said: “I knew about Swansea being in the Premier League and that was also a really big part of making my decision because I am a huge football fanatic. I saw them last season on TV pretty much every single game.”

Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins said yesterday the club’s priority was retaining its status in the Barclays Premier League where benefits will be “massive” next season.

The league has secured its status as world football’s richest competition with an astonishing £3.018bn deal for domestic TV rights for three years.

The agreements, which start from the 2013-14 campaign, are a remarkable 70 per cent increase on the current